Beverage bottle carrier

ABSTRACT

A wearable beverage carrier having a cylindrical portion with an open end configured for removably receiving a beverage bottle and a closed end configured for restricting movement of the beverage container, an elongated support portion having a proximal end extending from the open end of the cylindrical portion; and a loop portion located at the distal end of the elongated support portion and configured for receiving the belt. Additionally, the wearable beverage carrier includes an absorbent pad removably coupled to the closed end of the cylindrical portion and is located inside the cylindrical portion between the beverage container and the closed end of the cylindrical portion.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/603,583 filed on Aug. 23, 2004, which is incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to carriers for holding beveragecontainers, and more particularly to a holster style carrier worn by ahuman for carrying beverage bottles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Beverage servers at wine tastings, bars, cocktail lounges, house partiesand the like are limited in their pouring and service activities, asthey do not have free hands for other functions. For servers incommercial settings this results in a loss in productivity. For example,a wine server at a catered event is unable to assist in the clearing ofglassware and dish ware when returning to the kitchen to drop off emptywine bottles and pick up full bottles. The same holds true for a host ata private house party attempting to entertain guests while also keepingthe guests' glasses full with fine and drink.

One solution to this problem employed by some servers is to place thebottles into the pockets of the servers' pants, apron, or garment. Whilethis method helps to free up the servers' hands, this method results inreduced range of server movement, inefficiency, poor accessibility,limited and uncomfortable storage capability, and increased potentialfor slippage, droppage, drippage and mess.

This method is particularly problematic when a server is attempting tocarry several bottles of expensive wine in the server's pants pockets.The server must engage in inefficient and awkward movements to extract abottle, de-cork the bottle, pour the wine, and replace the bottle intothe pant pocket before removing the second bottle and repeating theprocess.

The present invention seeks to solve these problems by providing a humanwearable beverage container carrier.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention includes a human wearable carrierfor beverage bottles, such as wine, liquor or water bottles. One or moreholster shaped carriers are placed on an adjustable belt worn around theserver's waist or over the server's shoulder. This permits immediate,easy and natural access to multiple beverage containers while freeingthe server's hands for other ancillary functions.

In another aspect of the present invention, a server is able to carrythe open beverage bottles in a safe efficient manner and to carry one ormore holsters to substantially increase efficiency and mobility, and todecrease unnecessary movement and wasted effort.

Other objects and advantages, which are set forth in the description ofthe Detailed Description of the Invention. The features and advantagesdescribed in the specification, however, are not all inclusive, andparticularly, many additional features and advantages will be apparentto one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings andspecification herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a frontal view of the carrier of the best mode of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the carrier depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the carrier depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is front view of a dual carrier system employing the carrierdepicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is front view of a single carrier system employing the carrierdepicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the carrier depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an alternate embodiment carrier of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the alternate embodiment carrier depicted inFIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the alternate embodiment carrier depictedin FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

The preferred embodiment is a holster shaped carrier 10 as shown inFIGS. 1-3. Carrier 10 includes cylindrical portion 12, loop portion 14,elongated support portion 16, removable absorbent pad 20, and lacing 22.A bottle 18 is guided into cylindrical portion 12 by elongated supportportion 16, which facilitates easy insertion of bottle 18. Loop portion14 is used for inserting a belt 24 to support carrier 10 when worn by ahuman 26 as shown in FIGS. 4-5.

Removable absorbent pad 20 is placed inside cylindrical portion 12 toabsorb any liquid that drips from bottle 18. Removable absorbent pad isround in shape to fit within cylindrical portion 12 and is made of anyabsorbent, washable materials, such as sheepskin, sponge, foam or thelike.

Carrier 10 may be secured to the body in several ways. First, carrier 10may be secured at the waist by belt 24, which passes through loopportion 14 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. By securing carrier 10 around thewaist, a second carrier may be added to belt 24 as shown in FIG. 4.Alternatively, carrier 10 may be secured by placing belt 24 over theshoulder as shown in FIG. 5.

The preferred composition of carrier 10 and belt 24 is leather of anygrade, but with sufficient thickness and rigidity to hold beveragebottles and similarly heavy objects. While the preferred composition ofthe device is leather, it may also be composed of rubber, plastic ornaugahyde, if of sufficient thickness, rigidity and strength to holdbeverage bottles and similarly heavy objects.

Carrier 10 consists of four pieces of material, a left body piece 30 a,right body piece 30 b, back piece 31 and a bottom piece 32 as shown inFIG. 6. Body pieces 30 a and 30 b, and back piece 31, when folded andfastened into place, form cylindrical portion 12, loop portion 14, andelongated support portion 16 of the carrier 10. Bottom piece 32 formsthe bottom (i.e., closed end) of cylindrical portion 12 and is thematerial against which removable absorbent pad 20 is placed and againstwhich the bottom of bottle 18 rests when in cylindrical portion 12 toprevent bottle 18 from passing completely through cylindrical portion12.

Left body piece 30 a, right body piece 30 b, back piece 31 and bottompiece 32 contain along the outer edges 36 of each piece a series ofevenly spaced holes 34 through which lacing 22 is inserted to fasten thefour pieces together to form carrier 10. Alternately, stitching, glue,rivets or the like may be used in place of lacing 22. Additionally, leftbody piece 30 a and right body piece 30 b are fastened to back piece 31by narrow stitching 33.

To construct carrier 10, left body piece 30 a, right body piece 30 b,back piece 31 and bottom piece 32 are cut or stamped from the chosenmaterial into the patterns shown in FIG. 6. Holes 34 are then punched orstamped along the edges 36 of the various pieces. Additionally, holes 38are punched on top tab 40 of back piece 31. Next, top tab 40 of backpiece 31 is folded along line 42 and fastened in place with lacing 44.Alternately, other fasteners such as stitching, glue, rivets or the likein place of holes 38 and lacing 44.

Next, edges 35 of body pieces 30 a/30 b and back piece 31 are stitchedtogether by narrow stitching 33. Next, edges 36 of left body piece 30 aand right body piece 30 b, and edges 36 of body pieces 30 a/30 b, backpiece 31 and bottom piece 32 are fastened together by inserting lacing22 through holes 34. Lastly, removable absorbent pad 20 is inserted intocylindrical portion 12 through the open end until is rests againstbottom piece 32, and belt 24 is inserted through loop portion 14.

The four piece configuration of carrier 10 results in efficient use ofconstruction materials when the material is cut from a animal hide.Preferably, to the extent possible, back piece 31 is constructed fromthe same portion (i.e., area) of the hide as belts 24. The body pieces30 a/30 b and bottom piece 32 are then cut from other portions of thehide. By using four small pieces, rather than one large and one smallpiece as shown for example in the alternate embodiment below, hide wasteis minimized and cut choices are maximized. The use of narrow stitching33 is more cost effective yet does not degrade the aesthetics of thecarrier 10, as narrow stitching 33 is not on a highly visible portion ofcarrier 10.

An alternatively constructed carrier 110 is depicted in FIGS. 7-9. Thisalternate construction utilizes only two pieces of material (e.g.,leather) thereby requiring fewer cuts of the material, however morematerial is wasted.

Carrier 110 consists of two pieces of material, a body piece 130 and abottom piece 132 as shown in FIG. 9. Body piece 130, when folded andfastened into place, forms cylindrical portion 112, loop portion 114,and elongated support portion 116 of the carrier 110. Bottom piece 132forms the bottom of cylindrical portion 112 and is the material againstwhich removable absorbent pad 120 is placed and against which the bottomof bottle 118 rests when in cylindrical portion 112.

Both body piece 130 and bottom piece 132 contain along the outer edges136 of each piece a series of evenly spaced holes 134 through whichlacing 122 is inserted to fasten the two pieces together to form carrier110. Alternately, body piece 130 and bottom piece 132 are fastenedtogether by stitching, glue, rivets or the like.

To construct carrier 110, body piece 130 and bottom piece 132 are cut orstamped from the chosen material into the patterns shown in FIG. 9.Holes 134 are then punched or stamped along the edges 136 of body piece130 and bottom piece 132. Additionally, holes 138 and on top tab 140 ofbody piece 130. Next, top tab 140 of body piece 130 is folded along line142 and fastened in place with lacing 144. Alternately, holes 138 andlacing 144 are replaced with other fasteners such as stitching, glue,rivets or the like

Next, edges 136 of body piece 130 and bottom piece 132 are fastenedtogether by inserting lacing 122 through holes 134. Lastly, removableabsorbent pad 120 is inserted into cylindrical portion 112 and belt 124is inserted through loop portion 114.

From the above description, it will be apparent that the inventiondisclosed herein provides a novel and advantageous a human wearablecarrier for beverage bottles. The foregoing discussion discloses anddescribes merely exemplary methods and embodiments of the presentinvention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from suchdiscussion that various changes, modifications and variations may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1. A carrier for a beverage container wearable using a belt, comprising:a cyclindrical portion having an open end configured for removablyreceiving a beverage bottle and a closed end configured for restrictingmovement of the beverage container; an elongated support portion havinga proximal end extending from the open end of the cylindrical portionand a distal end; and a loop portion located at the distal end of theelongated support portion and configured for receiving the belt.
 2. Thecarrier recited in claim 1 further comprising: an absorbent padremovably coupled to the closed end of the cylindrical portion; whereinthe absorbent pad is located inside the cylindrical portion between thebeverage container and the closed end of the cylindrical portion.